Category: news

Came across my copy of Those Bastard Souls ‘Debt & Departure’ the other day and popped it in the old CD player to revisit the music that I hadn’t listened to in a few years. The band was started by ex-Grifters singer Dave Shouse who was looking for a more personal outlet for his songs (coincidentally, the Grifters came up recently on a message board I frequent). After TBS ran their course, Shouse started Bloodthirsty Lovers but that band seems to have run it’s course as well. So what is Shouse doing these days? A quick search on MySpace revealed a band called Hi Electric which listed a Dave Shouse as the keyboard player.

I was instantly taken aback by the 3 tracks available to stream on the MySpace site, particularly “Someone Else’s Name” which I’ve probably listened to a dozen times this week. I hear bits and pieces of everybody from the Beatles to Queens of the Stone Age to the Foo Fighters in the music – a really rich, dark pop sound that I just love. And “Handshake Ethics” sounds like a mix of the Posies and Blind Melon to me. Other than Shouse’s name, though, I didn’t recognize any of the other members so I sent off an email asking somebody from the band to give me the lowdown. Lead singer Neil Bartlett gave me the lowdown:

Hi, my name is Neil, I write all the songs for Hi Electric and sing and play guitar. Steve Selvidge from Big Ass Truck and Bloodthirsty Lovers found me on MySpace and offered to produce a record. We recorded a few songs at his home, and then started getting a live band together, at this same time Dave Shouse mentioned to Steve that he was wanting to get out and play some more, and so Steve invited him to join, and Dave has been a really amazing part of our band ever since. Kevin Cubbins, guitar, is from the Pawtuckets, Robert Barnett, drums, is from Big Ass Truck, Vending Machine, and a handful of other projects. Me and Allen, bass, are not as well known around Memphis as our counterparts. The recordings done at Steve’s house are mostly demo quality and also the songs have become a little grittier since we started playing out live. In 2008 we hope to do a series of singles before working on a full length, and I would doubt that we would be playing SXSW this year, but next year is definitely a possibility. I’ve still got one more year left in college, so the plan is to hang out in Memphis for a while and really see what kind of attention we can get.

Keep your eyes on this kid and his band, it’s some really, really good stuff.

Whenever a musician unexpectedly passes away, people open up and share stories about how an album/song/concert changed their life or how the musician once signed their stuff behind a club or how they had a chance to interview the musician and how the person was totally cool and down to earth. Quiet Riot’s singer Kevin Dubrow was found dead in his Las Vegas home on November 25, the cause of death has not yet been determined though check out any heavy metal message board for speculation (drugs, heart attack, etc., etc.). I’m no different than anybody else. I never really met Dubrow in the two times that I saw Quiet Riot play but I do have two quick stories to share.

A veteran of a whopping 3 arena rock shows (Huey Lewis, Aerosmith, Ozzy), the Quiet Riot/Poison show I saw at the Cleveland Agora when QR was touring to support ‘QR III‘ (and Poison was an unknown opener) was the first “small” club show I ever attended (the Agora maybe held 1,000 people, give or take). It opened my eyes to the whole concert going experience. Never before did I think I’d be within arm’s reach of a musician I liked, especially given that my seats at the previous 3 shows I had attended were nosebleeds where even looking through binoculars didn’t help. The ‘QR III’ cassette was a favorite of mine at the time but I listened to it not so long ago and it really didn’t stand the test of time – WAY too liberal a use of keyboards, but that’s what the MTV audience wanted at the time.

Years later – many, many years later (’99?) – I caught Quiet Riot on the state fair circuit, touring with Warrant, Slaughter, and Firehouse. I was there to see Warrant but Quiet Riot really surprised me. I wasn’t expecting much but they delivered a powerful set (the same way Great White did, with little expectations, when I saw them in Cincinnati a few years ago). After the show I hung out behind the fairground amphitheater, hoping to get an autograph or two from any of the guys in Warrant. Dubrow emerged from the backstage area wearing the shortest pair of cut-off jean shorts that I had ever seen a man wear. He signed a few quick autographs and then hopped into the front of a pickup truck, sandwiched between presumably two ’80s chicks who were looking to party. As they drove off, the handful of us gathered around just laughed at Dubrow’s appearance and how sad it was that a guy who once probably took limos to aftershow parties was now sandwiched between two women well past their prime.

I was pretty excited to see Quiet Riot and Slaughter this past summer but the show was the same date as a Silversun Pickups show that I already had tickets to so I passed on the retro act in favor of a sound of the future. Not sure I made a bad decision that night, but in retrospect I probably would have gone to the QR/Slaughter bill, all things considered.

Here’s one of my favorite Quiet Riot songs, “Slick Black Cadillac”.

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=b787o6K982I[/youtube]

NME reports a one-off Breeders reunion gig to take place on December 4 in Chicago. My friend Fyffo once told me how he saw Kelley Deal selling homemade purses and bags at a flea market outside of Dayton.

Did you hear My Bloody Valentine is reuniting and has some gigs scheduled? (AtomicNed.com always bringing you breaking news). I was turned onto MBV by Veruca Salt who used to play MBV’s ‘Loveless’ as between-acts music while on tour. Not sure if I have much interest in seeing this live (unless of course they show up for a “secret” SXSW show in March) but I am sorta digging the alt.country take on ‘Loveless’ by Japancakes.

Andy Summers thinks the timing is right for a new Police album but it’s hard to say whether Sting and Stewart Copeland share the same sentiment. As a fan of all eras of The Police as well as most of Sting’s stuff (I’m not one of those “early Police is the only good Police” snobs), I’d welcome something new though I won’t hold my breath (then again, I said that about the chances of The Police ever reuniting).

With all the reunions I’ve witnessed in the last few years, the one that holds the most potential excitement for me is Jani Lane hooking back up with the Warrant guys. Sorry, but Jamie St. James just doesn’t do it for me as the front man for Warrant. Could a reunion be in the works? Lane says he’s burying the hatchet with his former bandmates after years of public feuding.

I’d love to write a full-on review of the new Soulsavers CD (and maybe I’ll get around to it one of these days – thanks for the CD, Steve Nice) but for the time being, if you’ve somehow managed to miss hearing the single, “Revival”, featuring Mark Lanegan, then check it out here:

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=Wp1rL7DI_D4[/youtube]